DECEMBER 4, 2006 – COVINGTON
The Covington Buccaneer wrestling team started off their season with a nice performance versus Oakwood in front of their home crowd Monday night. The Buccs found themselves down 24-10 before capitalizing on three separate come-from-behind wins - two from the McMillion brothers - to best the Lumberjacks, 48-30.

The dual started at the 145 lb. weight class and Justin McMillion got Covington on track with a second period pin over Joel Turner after giving up two takedowns and trailing 4-1 early in the match. At 152 lbs, Ryan White followed suit with four takedowns and a couple of near falls en route to a 15-4 major decision over Oakwood's John Harman. Oakwood then scored their first points at 160 lbs as Dan Kendig earned a first period fall over freshman Josh Shefbuch. The Buccs then forfeited the next three weight classes and found themselves down, 24-10, before Jake Wise earned a 2-0 decision over Oakwood's Jake Horlacher at 285 lbs.

At 103 lbs, Covington's Sam Herron found himself on his feet trailing by a point with time running out, when he dug deep, pushing the action, and came out on top of a scramble with his opponent on his back. Herron earned the pin before the buzzer sounded and provided the Buccs with a much-needed win. At 112 lbs, Matt Breisch squared off against one of Oakwood's top wrestlers - returning district qualifier and near district placer, Paul Hochwalt. Breisch wrestled well throughout most of the match, but in the end, Hochwalt's experience showed as he came away with a pin for the Lumberjacks.

Covington then found themselves on the receiving end as Michael Corkhum (119 lbs.) and Dylan Gustin (125 lbs.) earned forfeits, followed up by the Buccs‚ third come-from-behind victory. At 130 lbs, Josh McMillion trailed throughout most of the first two periods to Oakwood's Brandon Bustillo before earning a takedown and near fall to take the lead. He gave up a few more points at the start of the third period then scored a decisive reversal, putting his opponent on his back and getting the pin. Quentin Layman then took a forfeit at 135 lbs, before Covington's Jake Jennings concluded the dual in emphatic fashion with a 18-1 technical fall over Oakwood's Landon Gray.

Wrestling on the opposite mat, the Covington jr. high team put in an impressive performance as well - against one of the area's top teams in Indian Lake. Despite missing three kids from their lineup and forfeiting four weight classes and 24 points to the Lakers, the Buccs gave them all they could handle, narrowly losing, 46-42.

Winning by pin for the jr. high squad were Sam Angle (86 lbs), Zach Shilt (92 lbs), Cory Ely (110 lbs), Tyler Tebbe (122 lbs), Andrew DeHart (128 lbs) and Tyler Dollison (142 lbs). At 150 lbs, Cody Minnich picked up a forfeit. Also competing, but dropping their bouts were Lon Bitner (98 lbs), Brandon Flora (104 lbs), Ben Wilson (116 lbs) and Kody Spade (230 lbs).

The high school team will travel to the Northeastern Invitational dual meet tournament this weekend while the jr. high squad will compete at the Milton Union Bulldog Invitational.